Proverbs 22

¹A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

²The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.

³A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

⁴By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honour, and life.

⁵Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

⁶Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

⁷The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

⁹He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

¹⁰Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

¹¹He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

¹²The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.

¹³The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

¹⁴The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein.

¹⁵Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

¹⁶He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

¹⁷Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.

¹⁸For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.

¹⁹That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.

²⁰Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,

²¹That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

²²Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:

²³For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

²⁴Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:

²⁵Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

²⁶Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

²⁷If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

²⁸Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

²⁹Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.